IAIN DUNCAN SMITH MP | Member of Parliament for Chingford and Woodford Green Contact About Iain Duncan Smith MP This website has been designed to give you an up to date picture of my work in Chingford and Woodford Green, and in Parliament. On this site you will find local news and insights into my campaigning on local and national issues. Thank you for visiting and please click on the HELP link if you are a constituent and wish to raise an issue with me. Iain Duncan Smith fails to turn up at hustings in his own constituency | The Independent Iain Duncan Smith fails to turn up at hustings in his own constituency The Work and Pensions Secretary has infamously pioneered sanctions for job interview no-shows Wednesday 29 April 2015 09:16 BST Click to follow Indy Politics Iain Duncan Smith PA Iain Duncan Smith failed to turn up at a hustings in his own constituency on Monday night, according to local media. The Work and Pensions Secretary had been invited to debate other candidates at the event at the Woodford Memorial Hall in his Chingford and Woodford Green Seat.

The discussion, organised by local faith groups, was attended by candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Ukip, the Green Party, TUSC, and Class War. Mr Duncan Smith was the only candidate seeking to become MP for the area who did not attend. The no-show was reported in the Illford Recorder local newspaper. Another local newspaper, the Chingford Guardian, earlier quoted Mr Duncan Smith as saying he would not attend the event due to a “late change in his schedule”. Ironically, as Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Duncan Smith has ramped up monetary sanctions against people who do not attend job interviews or JobCentre meetings. General election 2015: The worst gaffes and controversies General election 2015: The worst gaffes and controversies 1/35 4 May: Milibrand part 2 Russell Brand dramatically unveiled the second part of his interview with Ed Miliband, in which he agreed with the leader and then called on his YouTube viewers to vote Labour. David Cameron had described him as a "joke" who previously advocated not voting - but with Brand commanding more than a million YouTube subscribers that may come back to haunt the Tories.

2/35 3 May: #EdStone Labour leader Ed Miliband unveiled Labour's pledges carved into a stone plinth in Hastings. He said it showed his commitment to keep promises - but many mocked the "risible" stunt and said it would be the "tombstone" for Labour's election hopes. PA 3/35 2 May: Ukip candidate suspended A Ukip candidate who described himself as “unapologetically politically incorrect pro-British” was suspended after suggesting Shadow Minister Luciana Berger had split loyalties because she is Jewish. In one Twitter message Jack Sen, standing in West Lancashire, said: “Protect child benefits? If you had it your way you'd send the £ to Poland/ Israel.” Twitter/@jacksenukip 4/35 1 May: 'It's all about my career... I mean country' Labour jumped on another David Cameron gaffe after the PM said on the campaign trail that the election was a “career defining” moment when he meant to say “country defining”. Ed Miliband's party pounced, saying the remarks were proof Mr Cameron “puts his career before the country”. “It’s all about Dave,” the party tweeted.

PA 5/35 30 April: The Sun has got two hats on The Sun revealed who it was supporting in the election - both the Tories and, in Scotland, the SNP. While the UK edition of the newspaper called on the British public to vote Conservative so as to "stop [the] SNP running the country", The Scottish Sun announced its support for Nicola Sturgeon's party saying it will "fight harder for Scotland's interests at Westminster". 6/35 29 April: Complacent Conservative? Tory Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith failed to turn up to hustings in his own constituency following a 'late change in his schedule'. Wags observed that it was ironic given the minister has ramped up monetary sanctions against people who do not attend job interviews or JobCentre meetings. PA 7/35 28 April: Offensively independent An independent candidate standing in Northern Ireland proudly came up with the least 'politically correct' leaflet of the campaign. Susan-Anne White declared she would criminalise adultery and homosexuality, end sex education, reinstate corporal punishment and much more.

8/35 26 April: The Ed and Boris bust-up In what was widely hailed as the best bit of election TV so far, Ed Miliband and Boris Johnson clashed head-to-head in angry scenes live on the Andrew Marr Show, forcing their usually genial host to intervene and tell the pair of them to "shut up". The increasingly animated London Mayor repeated personal attacks over Mr Miliband 'stabbing his brother in the back', while the Labour leader got in some jibes of his own about Mr Johnson's Eton education. Reuters 9/35 25 April: Political football David Cameron’s football-loving credentials received a kicking at a campaign event in Croydon after he suggested to the audience he supported West Ham- despite previously claiming he was a huge Aston Villa fan. When asked about his sudden change in loyalty, Cameron later said he was still a Villa fan and blamed the slip up on a 'brain fade'. PA 10/35 24 April: Migrant crisis made political Ed Miliband was branded 'shameful' by Downing Street after he said David Cameron was partly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of migrants in the Mediterranean.

The Labour leader said the Prime Minister’s role in creating instability in Libya had contributed to thousands of north Africans drowning in the Mediterranean as they try to flee the crisis. A senior Tory called the comments 'deeply provocative' Getty Images 11/35 23 April: IFS accusations Voters are being kept 'in the dark' by all the main parties over future spending cuts and tax rises, the influential Institute for Fiscal studies said. A detailed study of the party manifestos by the think-tank concluded that none of the Lib Dems, Labour, the Conservatives or SNP had provided "anything like full details" on plans to cut the deficit over the next five-year Parliament. Getty 12/35 22 April: The not-so-Green Party A group of leading scientists and campaigners rounded on the Green Party, accusing it of turning its back on its main mission by largely ignoring the crucial issue of climate change in the run-up to the general election. Critics said that although the Green Party manifesto contains plenty of references to policies on global warming, the party was 'grievously at fault' for leaving the subject largely unspoken in campaigning by the party and its leader, Natalie Bennett.

Getty Images 13/35 21 April: Wikipedia edits Tory party chairman Grant Shapps was accused of editing the Wikipedia pages of his Conservative rivals and allegedly changing his own page to delete embarrassing references to his past. A Wikipedia administrator reported and suspended an account called 'Contribsx' on suspicion it was being used by Mr Shapps or 'someone acting on his behalf'. Getty Images 14/35 20 April: Dodgy Tory donors? The Conservatives were forced to return more than £50,000 in donations from a businesswoman whose husband was convicted of tax fraud in the US. Beatrice Tollman, who donated £20,000 as recently as early April, was herself charged with conspiracy to evade millions of dollars’ worth of tax in the US, charges that were dismissed by a judge in 2008 15/35 19 April: Miliband a hit among the hens Ed Miliband was described as "the stripper" by a group of women on a hen party in Chester after they spotted the parked-up Labour battle bus.

But not everyone saw it as statesmanlike behaviour, some saying it was 'cringe-worthy' and others reporting he looked 'absolutely terrified' YouTube/Chester Chronicle 16/35 18 April: DUP on gay marriage A right-wing Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland politician thanked Nick Clegg for 'reminding' voters that they are seeking to abolish same-sex marriage. After the Lib Dems set up a satirical website accusing the DUP of wanting to 'reject gay rights', North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said he was grateful to Mr Clegg 'for reminding people of the pivotal role the DUP can play' Joe Raedle/Getty Images 17/35 17 April: Labour 'metaphors' A Labour candidate was forced to apologise for “getting carried away with colourful metaphors” after making a joke about being caught in a threesome with Ed Miliband and a goat. Clive Lewis, a former reporter for BBC Look East who is now standing in Norwich South, said "anything could happen" when asked if he could be beaten by the Greens.

After the Miliband example caused a bit of a backlash he added: "If anyone was genuinely offended then I'm sincerely sorry for that." Rex 18/35 16 April: Ukip candidate calls Islam 'evil cult' A Ukip candidate standing for Parliament faced being sacked by the party after describing Islam as an “evil cult”. Stephen Latham, who is fighting the West Bromwich East seat, made the remarks in a Facebook post. He later said: "I wouldn’t have meant it about Islam itself. It would have been about the people causing problems." 19/35 15 April: Labour candidate 'forgets manifesto' A video emerged of a Labour candidate suffering a terrifically awkward 'brain fade' and failing to name her party’s key policies. During an interview with local website The Chiswick Calendar, Ruth Cadbury (running for Brentford and Isleworth) froze: "Um… I can’t remember my key… I do need to check… I’m reading them every day...

er… sorry… Labour’s key policies..." The Chiswick Calendar 20/35 14 April: Tory candidate 'wristbands' There were calls and a petition for the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Cambridge to stand down, after she said that mental health patients could wear colour-coded wristbands to identify their conditions. Chamali Fernando was accused of showing 'prejudice' and 'remind[ing] us how far we have to go' by mental health campaigners Twitter/Richard Taylor 21/35 13 April: Smarter than a 10-year-old? Former PR man David Cameron is used to spinning his way out of trouble against the most challenging interviewers - yet came completely unstuck on a visit to a primary school for Newsround. With his guard down, 10-year-old Reema asked: 'If you could pick one politician apart from yourself to win who would it be and why?' Cameron said it was the 'best' question he'd had so far on the campaign, um-ed, ah-ed and failed to give a clear answer.

Getty Images 22/35 9 April: Ukip's porn star candidate A mini-scandal surrounded Ukip's Bristol branch when it emerged the vice chair had an unusual second job as a veteran porn star. The party insisted it was happy to support candidates regardless of what they did in their spare time, adding proudly that 'no other party' would have taken John Langley - aka 'Johnny Rockard'. 23/35 8 April: Ed Balls on non-doms No sooner had Ed Miliband announced a popular Labour policy to scrap the non-dom tax status, a video emerged of Ed Balls explaining how such a move would end up costing Britain more. 24/35 5 April: Tories taking care of business (owners) In an interview with this newspaper Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, revealed that a senior Conservative minister told a Liberal Democrat cabinet colleague: 'You take care of the workers and we’ll take care of the bosses' in a private Whitehall meeting to discuss the Coalition Government’s priorities.

Getty 25/35 3 April: Nicola Sturgeon 'memo' Nicola Sturgeon was forced to deny telling the French ambassador she wanted the Tories to win the election in May in preference to Labour, after a 'memo' to that effect was leaked to the Telegraph. PA 26/35 2 April: Nigel Farage on HIV UKIP leader Nigel Farage sparked controversy during the ITV Leader's Debate 2015 for saying that immigrants who were HIV positive should not be able to enter the country and use the NHS for free. Ken McKay/ITV via Getty Images 27/35 29 March: Labour mugs Senior Labour MP Diane Abbott was among those who led a backlash against a mug being sold by the party celebrating its new commitment to a tough immigration system. 28/35 23 March: Ukip's Atkinson expelled Janice Atkinson, an MEP and once one of Ukip's most senior figures, was expelled after she was found to have brought the party into disrepute.

Ms Atkinson’s chief of staff was secretly recorded appearing to ask the manager of a restaurant in Margate to more than treble the £950 cost of a meal before Ukip’s spring conference. Nigel Farage later said the claims 'couldn't look worse'. Chris Radburn/PA Wire 29/35 8 January: 'Meet the Ukippers' Ukip councillor Rozanne Duncan was expelled from the party for saying she had a problem with black people because there was 'something about their faces' during filming for the BBC documentary 'Meet the Ukippers' BBC 30/35 20 November: Emily Thornberry and the white van Labour front bench MP Emily Thornberry was forced to resign after tweeted a photo of a house in Rochester adorned with three England flags and a white van out the front, which saw her accused of holding working class voters in 'contempt'. PA 31/35 22 October: Ukip Calypso The former BBC Radio 1 DJ Mike Read was forced to apologise for "unintentionally causing offence" with his song Ukip Calypso and asked his record company to withdraw it.

The song, which the Surrey-born disc jockey sang in a mock Jamaican accent, had been branded “racist”. PA 32/35 7 October: Forgetful Boris During his Ask Boris show on LBC prior to the Clacton by-election last year, the London Mayor was asked by Nick Ferrari who the Tory candidate was. Boris replied: "We've got a fantastic guy called - oh he’s brilliant… I don’t know... he is superb man .. Stirling? Girling? Something like that… what’s he called? You tell me." It was Giles Watling, Boris. PA/Getty 33/35 18 August: Janice Atkinson The senior Ukip MEP was forced to apologise after she was recorded by BBC South East Today describing a Thai constituent as 'a Ting Tong from somewhere'.

It wasn't enough to see her disowned by the party - that came later when she was caught in a newspaper sting relating to expenses Facebook/Maria Pizzey 34/35 16 May (2014): Nigel Farage on LBC Nigel Farage's car-crash performance on LBC was one of his worst in recent years, and culminated in him saying he would be 'uncomfortable' with a Romanian family moving in next door. The gaffe later saw Ukip take out a full-page newspaper advert insisting it was not a racist party. 35/35 20 March (2014): 'Patronising' Grant Shapps Grant Shapps, the Conservative chairman, came under pressure from across the political spectrum after a 'patronising' tweet in which he suggested Budget measures to halve bingo tax and cut the price of beer by 1p would 'help hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy' Getty Despite Mr Duncan Smith is unlikely to lose his seat, which has been Conservative since its creation due to safe demographics. At the 2010 election Mr Duncan Smith was over 30% clear of the next most popular candidate, who was from the Labour party.

Iain Duncan Smith: the latest MP to pretend council cuts are not his fault | Public Leaders Network | The Guardian Iain Duncan Smith: the latest MP to pretend council cuts are not his fault Mary O'Hara It’s bad enough that the secretary of state used his position to hammer Enfield council on efficiency, but let’s not forget the damage caused by welfare reform Enfield’s population is rising, pushing up demand for local services and making the financial juggling act of delivering more with fewer resources even harder. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian Wednesday 2 March 2016 02.04 EST Last modified on Tuesday 19 July 2016 08.29 EDT Share on Messenger Close If you’re unaware of the extraordinary budgetary challenges faced by local authorities, it must mean that you live on another planet – or you’re Iain Duncan Smith. Despite being firmly ensconced at the heart of an austerity-obsessed government, the secretary of state for work and pensions appears blissfully unaware of the way cuts are implemented by councils in and around his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency .

Much like his boss David Cameron, when he expressed horror in a letter to his local council about the level of cuts it was making. Last week, Duncan Smith came in for fierce criticism after he accused Enfield council of failing to adequately manage funding cuts when it faced a backlash to plans to cut youth services. In what Doug Taylor, the leader of Enfield council, describes as an incredibly ill-informed and inappropriate intervention, the minister told the Enfield Independent : If you look at the successful local authorities, they are the people who have worked out what the vitally important things are that they do, and have managed to get through this process without savaging the things that really matter. My only advice to local council[s] is that if you get the balance right, you should be able to manage this in a way that is not headline news – doing it with better efficiency. It is like any company, you always face the issue of whether what you spend outweighs what you earn. Headline cuts are not the way to go. That such a senior and high profile member of the cabinet – with no official brief for local government – has ostensibly suggested that councils could avoid gruelling financial situations if only they were better at managing budgets, has understandably angered local politicians.

In the case of Enfield, which has had to make savings of £118m since 2010 – 49% in real terms according to a council spokeswoman – Duncan Smith’s proclamations are an affront. Taylor insists that Enfield, like councils all over the country, has gone to great lengths to increase efficiency before even contemplating cuts to frontline services. He says the annual funding the council receives from central government has been cut by an average of £700 for every household in the borough in the past five years, and that efficiencies are no longer enough. “The £56m we need to find [as a result of the last spending review] is more than we currently spend annually on cleaning the streets, collecting the bins and lighting our streets,” he says. Local MP Joan Ryan is particularly scathing of the secretary of state’s statement. “Iain Duncan Smith knows nothing about Enfield – that much is clear,” she says. “IDS should get his facts right, given his local authority – Waltham Forest – has also made substantial cuts.

I recommend less sermonising and a better understanding of his own policies.” More cuts will cement poverty in UK’s most deprived areas Read more Enfield’s population is rising, like many other parts of London , pushing up demand for local services and making the financial juggling act of delivering more with fewer resources even harder. Duncan Smith’s ill-informed pontifications, Taylor says, are an exercise in power without responsibility; it will be interesting to see if the MP takes Taylor up on an open invitation to visit the council and see for himself what is actually going on. It’s bad enough that Duncan Smith is using his position to hammer councils on efficiency when he hasn’t discussed the facts with them, but let’s also not forget the impact of welfare reform. Benefit policy upheavals, for which he was architect-in-chief, have contributed immensely to the increased demand for support from local authorities just when they’re least able to provide it. Oh, and don’t forget either that when Cameron needed to avert a backbench rebellion and magically found a £300m pot of cash to chuck at Tory councils , there were no assertions that they should improve their budget management skills instead.

Ever since local government cuts began rolling out the government has shrewdly made it look like it’s somehow nothing to do with Westminster. Duncan Smith’s latest jibe is yet another illustration of how conveniently misleading this strategy continues to be. Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday.

Why I have to stand against Iain Duncan Smith in the general election | Lisa McKenzie | Society | The Guardian Equality Why I have to stand against Iain Duncan Smith in the general election Class War’s Lisa McKenzie says it’s time someone like herself who has lived on a council estate spoke up about Britain’s social apartheid, rather than politicians who don’t understand the lives of working-class people Lisa McKenzie campaigning in Woodford: ‘The Labour party has walked away from its history, its core vote and from working-class people.’ Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian Lisa McKenzie Wednesday 8 April 2015 05.00 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 19 July 2016 09.53 EDT Close This article is 1 year old Walking around the Orchard Estate in Woodford, north-east London, a community of six 12-storey blocks of high-rise flats sitting stark in a constituency of detached mock Tudor houses with manicured lawns, nowhere is the division in our country more obvious.

This is the constituency of Iain Duncan Smith the Conservative party’s work and pensions secretary and architect of this government’s cruel cuts and caps to welfare benefits; a government that is responsible for further deepening the divisions of class inequality across Britain. The numbers of 4x4s that drive up and down the constituency are matched only by those living on the estate who are standing waiting for a bus. I’m in this neighbourhood because I am standing for Class War against Duncan Smith in Chingford and Woodford Green at the general election. Someone has to talk about class politics, social apartheid and the social cleansing in our country on the political stage, someone who has lived it, knows it and feels it. That someone is me, I have lived on council estates all of my life, and I am a proud working-class woman, while the Labour party has turned its back on its values and fears the language of class that was so powerful in the early 20th century. The Labour party has walked away from its history, its core vote and working-class people. Labour politicians will not even say the word “class” they use the term “working people”.

This abandonment of the working class by Labour, and the deep contempt that the Conservatives have for us, have had a devastating effect, the levels of inequality have reached heights not seen since the 1930s . It is no coincidence that the poorest and most disaffected people in the UK have been hit hardest by a government that has been intent on a mad ideological crusade to cleanse parts of Britain of the poor, and to punish them for their unfair situation. At the same time it has rewarded the wealthiest. My colleague Prof John Hills at the LSE in his book Good Times, Bad Times argues clearly that welfare changes have transferred income from the poorer half of households to most of the richer half, with no net effect on public finances or on the deficit. We can only surmise then, that the levels of inequality, the hardships and the misery we are seeing are purposeful and political. It is also the poorest and most disaffected people who are least likely to vote. They rightly believe that the realm of the political elite is not about them or their lives. On the Orchard Estate I talk to some lads near the shops. I know how this conversation will go. I know council estates, having lived on them all of my life.

I have always known young lads like this, hanging around the shops among the concrete and the railings in the early afternoon; the faces change, the places change, but class inequality stays the same. Pinterest Lisa McKenzie at a pub in Woodford. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian These young men are laughing and joking with each other. They range from 15 to 21, and they don’t know what I’m talking about when I tell them I’m standing in the election against Duncan Smith. I show them my election leaflet with pictures of Winston Churchill, Norman Tebbit, and Duncan Smith on it; the fourth face is mine. The leaflet says “Time for a change”. The only face they recognise is mine, because I’m stood right in front of them. They tell me they aren’t going to vote, or they might vote for me and they like the leaflet as it has swearing on it. I go to a local pub in Woodford and talk to some of the older men who are having a pint in the afternoon. Most of them haven’t got any teeth. They are going to vote, probably Labour although they know that it no longer represents them.

I ask them about Chingford and Woodford Green and its long history with the Conservative party. One of them shouts “Churchill was a warmonger”. I am relieved, I was getting nervous about standing in a constituency that is essentially a Tory town. I didn’t think I would have much in common with people here, but I do. Working-class people have similar experiences of oppression and injustice everywhere. Working-class people are unfairly disadvantaged and the middle-class are equally unfairly advantaged by the class system This is the narrative from council estates all over England. The elites, the establishment and the politicians have no connection here. The response I have had from the council estates in Chingford and Woodford Green is the same as the responses I get from the council estates in Manchester, Bristol and all over London I have visited during my recent book tour.

My book, Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain , outlines the disenfranchisement, hardships and anger inside a council estate in Nottingham where I lived for more than 20 years, while at the same time showing how working-class people living in the poorest neighbourhoods find solidarity, friendship and family in their communities to put a barrier between them and an out-of-control neo-liberal ideology that has hurt and damaged them over several generations. If this all sounds bleak, it’s because it is. A report from the thinktank IPPR shows that the gap between those who vote and those who do not could grow at the election. In the 2010 general election just 44% of those aged between 18 and 24 voted, compared with 76% of those aged 65 and over. Pinterest Lisa McKenzie is arrested at a protest against ‘poor doors’. Photograph: Peter Marshall/Demotix/Corbis The report is not surprising to anyone who knows that we live in apartheid Britain, where some of the public are watching from the sidelines as we begin the countdown to the election, a parliamentary game of musical chairs, while others have no interest or no idea it is even happening.

Only one in four voters in the lowest social-economic group believe democracy addresses their interests, according to the report, and almost two-thirds of voters in that group say democracy serves their interests badly. Moreover, not even one in 10 think politicians understand the lives of people like themselves. They are right on all counts. When you are working class and you come from a poor background you suspect this, but you are told it is not true. My university education has given me the confidence to confront what I always thought was true: that class inequality is real. Working-class people are unfairly disadvantaged and middle-class people are equally unfairly advantaged by the class system. This fact makes the middle class angry and nervous. It is easy to talk about the poor and how they need help, it is more difficult to connect this to the unfair advantages of other groups. Social mobility is about cherry picking the brightest and the best of the working class and giving them the opportunity to be middle class. Social mobility in apartheid Britain says nothing about downward mobility, the class system holds those with privilege in place.

The estate we’re in: how working class people became the ‘problem’ | Lisa McKenzie Read more The IPPR fears democracy is failing and suggests compulsory voting for first-time voters could help kickstart a lifetime habit. This assumes, however, that people are not engaging with politics, which is far from the truth. In Salford working-class people tell me they will vote for Bez and the Reality party , and they are angry about fracking. In London, the crisis in housing and the cleansing of working-class people are causing protests and campaigns across the capital. What the political elite is not listening to, or seeing or hearing, is a movement of people, a class-consciousness rising out from beneath the politicians’ fear and contempt of class politics. While the seven political leaders soundbited themselves to death on last week’s TV debate, activists on the Aylesbury estate in south London pulled down a Berlin-style 10ft wall with razor wire surrounding the estate, the Focus E15 Mums from east London were preventing bailiffs removing the few possessions of a young single mum, and I was being arrested for protesting against the “poor doors” that segregate London’s inner-city flat dwellers.

Politics is happening on our streets, and it is filling the space of apartheid Britain. Iain Duncan Smith Iain Duncan Smith Member of Parliament for Chingford and Woodford Green Iain was educated at Dunchurch College of Management, the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, the Universita per Stranieri in Perugia and HMS Conway in Anglesey. As part of the Scots Guards, Iain saw active service in Northern Ireland and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and served in Canada and Germany. Iain later worked for GEC-Marconi, a defence company, and Bellwinch, a property company. He has also been on the board of Jane’s Information Group, a publishing company. Iain married Betsy in 1982 and they have four children – Harry, Edward, Rosie and Alicia. Iain was elected Member of Parliament for Chingford in 1992, and he was re-elected in 1997 as Member of Parliament for the re-drawn constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green. Iain was promoted to William Hague’s Shadow Cabinet in 1997. As Shadow Secretary of State for Social Security, Iain exposed Labour’s hypocrisy and failure on welfare reform.

When he was promoted to Shadow Defence Secretary, he exposed the Government’s failure to give British forces sufficient funding and equipment. In 2001, Iain was elected Leader of the Conservative Party. After stepping down in 2003, he set up the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), an independent think tank committed to tackling poverty and social breakdown. Iain worked tirelessly as Chairman of the CSJ until 2010, when he was appointed Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Postcode to constituency lookup provided by They Work For You. Contact Your MP Iain Duncan Smith fails to show up for General Election hustings in his own constituency - Mirror Online News Iain Duncan Smith fails to show up for General Election hustings in his own constituency Sister of David Clapson, the diabetic ex-soldier who died after having his benefits cut, was there to protest and said Tory ministers were too scared to defend their record Share Protests: Campaigners said Iain Duncan Smith should have his pay docked after he missed his own hustings Share Get politics updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing!

Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email Voters from Iain Duncan Smith’s constituency last night called for him to be sanctioned – with his MP’s salary suspended – for failing to show up at his local hustings. Candidates from six other parties – Labour, Green, Lib Dem, Class War, TUSC and UKIP – managed to make the event at Woodford Memorial Hall. But the sitting MP failed to show up in his constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green in north London. Organisers said he had been “called away to the north-west of the country” after a “late change to his schedule”. Duncan Smith – who doesn’t live in the constituency – was quoted as saying “these things often happen”. He had given some answers to prearranged questions via Facebook. Speaking out: Gill Thompson tells the meeting about her brother David Clapson (Photo: Daily Mirror / Philip Coburn) At the hustings , Campaigner Gill Thompson – whose brother David Clapson died after being sanctioned under a regime made more brutal by Duncan Smith – moved many in the audience to tears. “My brother died because of Iain Duncan Smith’s policies ,” she said. “He wasn’t a scrounger. He was a former soldier.

He died with a pile of CVs next to his body. He was a diabetic. After he was sanctioned he couldn’t even keep his insulin cold in the fridge.” In IDS’ absence, the other candidates said what had happened to David was appalling. “It seems particularly cruel and painful,” said Bilal Mahmood for Labour . Rebecca Tully for the Green Party , said the system was “making sick people sicker”. Afterwards, Gill agreed with the shouts from the crowd that IDS should be sanctioned for failing to show up. “He should be sanctioned, and have his MP’s salary stopped,” she said. “Why does he think he is above having to turn up to his own hustings? It’s because he can’t defend his own policies.” Debbie Abrahams, the Labour MP who instigated an inquiry into the use of sanctions, said: "Gill has shown incredible courage to challenge Iain Duncan Smith to answer questions about the way he allows the use of inappropriate benefit sanctions against vulnerable people.

"Mr Duncan Smith's ability to avoid answering direct questions, even from us as work and pensions select committee members is mind-blowing.” Video Loading Share this video Watch Next Meanwhile another top Conservative , Wirral West MP Esther McVey yesterday pulled out of a live radio interview in Liverpool city centre. Radio station LBC brought its election Battle Bus to Liverpool ONE as part of a countrywide tour. Poll of polls Liverpool Echo reporter Joe Thomas – who is on board the Battle Bus – tweeted: “Last night’s rumour was correct and Esther McVey has pulled out of today’s live interview in Liverpool city centre.” And the third senior minister in their department, Mark Harper, failed to show up at the last moment for a BBC debate on welfare. “They must be terrified,” Gill Thompson said. “They can’t defend their record.” Like us on Facebook As the PPC in Iain Duncan Smith’s constituency, Ed has taught me two important lessons | LabourList As the PPC in Iain Duncan Smith’s constituency, Ed has taught me two important lessons Bilal Mahmood Ed Miliband Iain Duncan-Smith Ed Miliband has tackled the issue of his perceived image problem.

Rather than embarrassingly excuse himself or convince the public he is something he is not, he has embraced his own persona, accepting it in order to extinguish the ongoing media analysis of who he is rather than what he stands for. This move shows courage, political prowess and most of all, it’s set the stage for next year’s election to be about policy rather than personalities. I cannot tell you how many times I have met people on the doorstep who want to know more about Labour Party policies, have a concern about the future of Britain, but have a hard time when it comes to the presentation by the media of Ed. By talking openly about this issue, Ed has embraced his own image – exuding confidence, and in turn engending peoples’ confidence in him. Tackling the “showbiz” side of politics will also help political parties re-connect with people. Of course there is an irony that Ed and his team discussed this approach during a photo opportunity. But that’s exactly the point. The nature of political presentation has now gotten to the stage that if there’s no camera to prove it happened, it never did.

I’ve been involved in some pioneering social mobility programmes for over ten years, mostly around developing skills for debating and public speaking with students from disadvantaged backgrounds. What we have always advised students is not to emulate others’ style. It’s uncomfortable for the student, certainly not empowering and most of all disingenuous. It is better to take who you are and present that with integrity and sincerity. Ed is doing the same, and the public will hopefully see that. Of course presentation and photo ops are part of any good campaign – no doubt Ed’s team will and indeed should continue to take advantage of that. But if they aren’t up to Saatchi standards, well, that’s just Ed being Ed. Most importantly, Ed has implicitly shown why he wants to be Prime Minister. He wants to stand up for all of Britain, but in particular for “the others”. For those who sit less comfortably in the spotlight. He’s making a case for the Davids of this world in face of their Goliaths.

As the Labour Parliamentary candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green, where the current MP is Iain Duncan Smith, I get a sympathetic smile, and often a chuckle, (even from Labour Party members) when I meet many people and tell them about my campaign. But Ed’s new tact has galvanised me in two ways. The first is to remind me that people are interested in my ideas about assisting small businesses, making sure young people have access to skills to work and prosper, where to house London and where Britain’s place in the world should be and not how I would look eating a butty. The second is to show remind us that next year’s election will really be an ideological fight over what kind of Britain we live in, and not merely who would get more likes from an Instagram post. Bilal Mahmood is the Parliamentary Prospective Candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green. Iain Duncan Smith of the Conservative party - bio PARLIAMENT LINK View Parliament profile Bio George Iain Duncan Smith (born 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British Conservative Party politician who is the current Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

He was previously the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was first elected to Parliament in 1992 as the MP for Chingford, and he has represented its successor constituency of Chingford and Woodford Green since 1997. Duncan Smith was born in Edinburgh and served in the Scots Guards from 1975 to 1981, seeing tours in Northern Ireland and Rhodesia. He joined the Conservative Party in 1981, and was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1992. Duncan Smith succeeded William Hague as Conservative Leader in 2001, winning the leadership election partly on the support of Margaret Thatcher for his Eurosceptic ideology. Duncan Smith was the first Catholic to serve as a Conservative Leader, and the first to be born in Scotland since Arthur Balfour. In 2010, "The Tablet" named him one of Britain’s most influential Catholics. His time as Conservative Leader saw his party fall in opinion polls, and many Conservative MPs came to consider him incapable of winning an election.

In 2003 his MPs passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership; he immediately resigned, and was succeeded by Michael Howard. As a backbencher, he founded the centre-right Centre for Social Justice, a think tank independent of the Conservative Party, and became a published novelist, though his novel The Devil's Tune received heavily critical reviews. On 12 May 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Duncan Smith to serve in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP - UK Parliament Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP Constituency House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA Tel: 020 7219 2667/2664 64A Station Road, Chingford, London, E4 7BE Tel: 020 8524 4344 Member for Chingford and Woodford Green May 2015 - Member for Chingford and Woodford Green May 1997 - Mar 2015 Secretary of State for Work and Pensions May 2010 - Mar 2016 Leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition Sep 2001 - Nov 2003 Shadow Secretary of State for Defence Jun 1999 - Sep 2001 Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Jun 1997 - Jun 1999

Question: What is Iain Duncan Smith's constituency
Answer: Chingford and Woodford Green